Business

London investment trust to sell €250m of Irish assets

Digital 9 Infrastructure is winding itself down as criticism over dividend policy voiced

Founded in 2014, Aqua Comms operates two transatlantic subsea cables.

Barry J Whyte
Tue Jan 30 2024 - 13:02

A London-listed investment trust has announced that it will wind itself down and sell more than €250 million worth of Irish assets, including broadband provider Host Ireland and Aqua Comms, a Dublin-based company that specialises in subsea cables for data centres.

In a stock market announcement on Tuesday, Digital 9 Infrastructure Plc said that after a strategic review, involving consultation with its financial advisers and shareholders, it would begin sale proceedings for its assets this year.

It is the full owner of Aqua Comms and Host Ireland, which has since been renamed Elio Networks. In relation to those companies, the statement said it intends to immediately commence sale preparations “in advance of launching competitive processes later this year”.

The proceeds from any successful sales will be distributed to Digital 9′s investors, the statement said.

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Digital 9 bought Host Ireland in a €60 million deal in April 2022. Host was founded in 1998 and has around 2,650 business connections, with revenue of €8.4 million at the end of 2021, and Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of €5.7 million.

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It bought Irish-headquartered Aqua Comms in 2021 in a deal worth $215 million (€200 million). Founded in 2014, Aqua Comms operates two transatlantic subsea cables.

It owns a number of fibre-optic cables that operate across the Atlantic, as well as cables that connect Ireland to the UK and the UK with Denmark and Scandinavian countries. The most recent accounts for Aqua Comms show that in 2022 it had revenue of $34.4 million, up from $32.6 million the year before.

Digital 9 has been the subject of criticism in recent months over its dividend policy, the future direction of the company, and its proposed sale of a big asset – data centre services company Verne Global.

One of the most vocal critics was Aqua Ventures, a company originally involved in the founding of Aqua Comms, which became a shareholder in Digital 9 after the deal in 2021.

In a letter in October Aqua Ventures notedDigital 9′s 53 per cent drop in its share price to that point, which it described as “a dismal performance both in absolute and relative terms”.

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